A Thorny Situation
by purplewhiteandgold
Summary: 13 roses- friends, or something more? In which Marinette is confused, Adrien is awkward, and Plagg was actually right for once.


Inspired by a tumblr post by thenovelartist

Flower facts pulled from https/pollennation/meaning-roses-1-to-100-roses/

* * *

Marinette stared at the vase in front of her, completely and utterly _done_.

"Tikki."

The kwami hummed.

"What does it mean?"

She shrugged helplessly, just as lost as Marinette. "Well, yellow roses have been known to signify friendship and platonic love, but I think there might be more to it than that."

"But Tikki, what does it _mean_?!"

Tikki winced, glancing at the monitor behind the roses. The webpage was open to a site on flower language.

_13 Roses- the meaning of roses when presented in the number 13 can either symbolize eternal friendship or a secret admirer._

Tikki floated up until she was sitting on the roses, which had already begun losing petals as Marinette had counted them, over and over again, thinking that _maybe_ she had miscounted, and there weren't actually 13?

(She hadn't miscounted. Every time she recounted, there were still 13. And there still would be every time she recounted.)

"Maybe he, uh-" she gestured at the roses, trying to think of something. "Maybe he… wanted to do something nice for you?"

_"But what does it mean Tikki."_

She opened her mouth to respond, but ultimately didn't know what to say. She considered herself good at figuring out people's intentions and motives, but _this_ boy, this oblivious boy, was going to be the death of her. It might be out of friendship, but it _does_ also seem like the kind of thing he might do for a girl he was interested in.

To say the least, Tikki was baffled.

Marinette's phone buzzed, and she was quick to answer it. On the other end, Tikki could hear Alya questioning Marinette on what has happened, what did Adrien say to her, how she responded.

A beat of silence, and then-

_"Alyawhatdoesitmean?!"_

* * *

Adrien was laying on the couch in his room with a lovesick look on his face, and ultimately ignoring Plagg's requests for cheese.

The kwami sighed. The boy seemed to be pleased with himself over something, and it probably had to do with the sites about flowers he had been perusing yesterday.

And speaking of flowers-

"So tell me again why you gave Marinette flowers?"

Adrien blushed deeply, trying- and failing spectacularly, in Plagg's opinion- to play it cool. "Girls like flowers, right? And I thought maybe she would like something nice."

Plagg raised an eyebrow. "Girls like flowers. And, would it so happen that you want this _particular_ girl to like _you_?"

His blush deepened as he thought back to the website on flower language.

_12 Roses – gifting someone you are fond of with 12 single roses is a simple way to ask them to be yours._

"Maybe I do, Plagg. Maybe I'm tired of being hung up on Ladybug, and want to pursue a girl that might give me a chance."

"And you had to give her flowers instead of just _telling_ her because…?"

Adrien shrugged slightly. "The whole 'just tell her' thing didn't really work with Ladybug, and I get the feeling Marinette is a similar type of girl to her. Who knows, maybe this kind of thing is what she likes from guys."

"Yeah, but isn't that sort of out of nowhere? Maybe if you already had an established relationship it would make sense, but you guys are just friends."

Adrien smirked. "Please, I'm smarter than that, Plagg. It has to do with the language of flowers, and I made sure to tell her to look it up so she knows for certain what I mean. Giving 12 roses is a way to ask someone-"

He was cut off by Plagg as the kwami began cackling. "You meant to give her 12? Oh geez, you're in for some trouble, kid."

Adrien frowned. "What are you talking about?"

An evil grin grew on his face as he laughed louder. _"You miscounted and gave her 13 flowers instead of 12."_

Plagg was laughing so hard that he didn't notice Adrien's shocked expression. "Wait, what? Oh man, that might- wait. How do I know you're not lying?"

"Oh kid, with the meaning of 13, you can't afford to not believe me."

Adrien paused. _Well, it can't be that bad, a lot of the 'number of roses' meanings had the same as 12. What did 13 mean? Was it the same or different?_

He frowned slightly, deep in thought._ Was it the one that implied love at first sight? No, no that wasn't it. Support in tough times? No, that couldn't be it. And it **definitely** couldn't have been-_

He froze.

_No._

_No, I couldn't have screwed up that badly._

He threw himself into his seat at his desk, desperately trying to find the website he'd been on before.

_I **couldn't** have screwed up that badly, there's no possible way I gave her **that** one-_

Plagg jolted slightly as Adrien slammed his head into the desk, accompanied by a loud thump. He could hear Adrien muttering "_stupid, stupid, stupid_" under his breath and smirked. "Figured it out, did ya, Sunshine?"

_"I gave her 13!"_

"I'm aware of that. Unlike you, I can count."

_"Do you know what 13 **means**, Plagg?!"_

"Obviously. That's why it's funny."

Adrien groaned before glaring at Plagg. "You couldn't have told me this before I gave them to her?!"

He snorted. "I thought you were just plain oblivious and were trying to express your feelings of friendship to her in a bizarre yet obvious way."

"...feelings of friendship?"

"Come on, kid, you looked up the meaning behind the number of roses, but not the color?"

The mortified look on his face was _priceless_. Within seconds, he was scrolling down a page with pictures of different colors of roses and the descriptions of their meanings.

Moments later, Plagg was cackling again as Adrien saw the meaning of yellow roses and just _screamed_.

* * *

Marinette is still at a loss for words when she hears the knocking on her trapdoor. After a few moments of silence, it opens slowly, the person on the other side slightly hesitant.

In the back of her mind, she considers that maybe Alya had come to help her work out the whole rose debacle, when a familiar blond head appears.

She squeals, flailing so hard she almost falls off her chair. He stands awkwardly, hands clasped behind his back as he looks at her.

_Come on, Agreste, this is your chance to fix things. Say something to her, maybe something smooth._

"...nice roses."

_...Kill me now._

"I mean-! I, ah, see that you've, uh, got them in a vase."

"Yeah! I, um, wanted to put them on my desk to make it prettier." She tries to lean casually on her desk, only to jostle the mouse and wake up the monitor, displaying the flower language site.

She tries to close the page, but he is quick to notice what it's about.

"I, ah, guess you were wondering about-" with one hand, he gestures at the vase. "That."

Silence settles over the room, until he blurts out, _"It'sbecauseofmyhair!"_

"Wh-what?"

Adrien now begins to blush heavily. "I'm- it was supposed to be a sort of sweet thing, kind of to make you think of me. They're yellow, to match my hair, because I'm, you know, blond."

_Obviously, genius. What're you going to point out next, that your eyes are green and match the stems?_

He sighs, running a hand through his (obviously blond) hair. Might as well be blunt with her and just tell her.

(In the back of his mind he curses Plagg for actually being right once.)

"Look, Marinette," he sighs. "I messed up, and I think I confused you, and I really want to make it up to you. So-" Moving his other hand from behind his back, he reveals two more roses, identical to those he already gave her. Reaching forward, he drops them beside the others.

Before she could stop herself, Marinette glances at the screen again.

_15 Roses – if you've done something to upset someone and wish for forgiveness, opt for 15 roses._

"I don't know what you feel about me, or what you want in a relationship, or if you even want a relationship right now, but-" he shrugs. "This is me, awkwardly coming to you to say that I want to try to maybe get together with you."

The atmosphere is thick with tension as they stare at each other, neither knowing what to say.

Finally, Marinette giggles slightly, cutting through the tension. After a few moments, Adrien can't help but join her.

Finally, she meets his eye, and contemplates him, then the flowers, before reaching over and grabbing for them. Standing to meet his eye, she hands them to him.

He glances at them. "3 of them? What does that-" His eyes shoot to the screen.

_3 Roses – 'I love you'._

His next words are cut off as her lips meet his.


End file.
